BANCROFT    LIBRARY 


THE  MOQUIS 


OF 


Co 


Bancroft  Ubwj 


THE  MOQTJIS    OF    AEIZONA, 


ABi'ief  Description    of   Their   Towns, 
Their  M  anners  and 


i'O.Ml'ILKD  FROM  LATEST  DATA  AKD    OKIGJKAL    NOTES.     FOR     THK 
ALT  A  CALIFOKNIA. 


The  country  of  the  Moquis  Indians,  a  nation  concerning 
whose  manners  and  origin,  no  little  discussion  has  been 
carried  on  in  the  Eastern  papers  during  the  past  year,  is  situ 
ated  in  the  northeastern  portion  of  Arizona  Territory,  be 
tween  the  100th  meridian  and  the  Little  Colorado  River,  from 
east  to  west,  and  the  Big  and  Little  Colorado  Rivers  from 
north  to  south.  The  yawning  canons  through  which  these 
rivers  force  their  way.  interpose,  except  at  a  few  widely  sepa 
rated  and  scarcely  known  crossing  places,  impassable  barri 
ers  to  the  ingress  of  strangers,  who  after  encountering  suc 
cessfully  this  obstacle,  find  themselves  confronted  by  a  Des 
ert,  seventy-five  miles  long,  upon  which  for  days  the  weary 
traveller  may  wander  without  having  his  eyes  gladdened  by 
the  sight  of  a  single  tree,  a  blade  of  grass,  or  a  drop  of  water. 

To  these  frowning  canons  and  to  this  torrid  Desert,  the  Mo 
quis  are  indebted  for  the  seclusion  which  has  enabled  them  to 
preserve  intact  customs  and  modes  of  life  derived  from  the 
ancient  so-called  civilization  of  the  Aztecs,  with  whom  'their 
connection  may  perhaps  be  established  by  the  recorded  fact 
that  in,  or  about,  the  year  1536,  not  much  more  than  a  decade 
and  a  half  after  Cortez  had  overthrown  the  empire  of  Monte- 
zuma,  their  towns  were  first  visited  by  Spanish  missionaries, 
representatives  of  that  class  of  zealous  friars  who  shortly  after 
the  discovery  of  America,  overran  the  continent,  preaching 
to  tribes  of  Indians,  now  extinct  and  forgotten,  the  merits  of 
the  Gospel,  whose  blessed  precepts  their  own  countrymen  so 
persistently  disregarded. 

Not  satisfied  with  the  doctrines,  or  not  relishing  the  intru 
sion  of  the  "padres,"  the  Moquis  condemned  some  to  death 
and  the  survivors  to  ignominious  servitude.  The  Spanish  au 
thorities  by  some  means  becoming  apprised  of  the  predica- 


merit  of  the  missionaries,  speedily  organized  for  their  deliver 
ance  an  imposing  expedition  which,  under  its  leader.  Coro- 
nado.  slowly  made  its  way  to  the  '-seven  cities  of  Cibola," 
pictured  by  Spanish  fanaticism  as  the  abode  of  Satan,  and  by 
Spanish  cupidity  as  the  casket  of  untold  treasure.  The  extri 
cation  from  a  life  of  misery  of  one  wretched  friar  may  have 
rewarded  the  expedition  for  privations  endured,  and  compen 
sated  for  the  treasures  it  failed  to  find  :  but  with  its  further 
movements  we  have  nothing  to  do,  except  to  mention  that 
upon  his  return  march  through  the  vast  regions  to  the  east 
ward,  Coronado  is  believed  by  some  writers  to  have  been  the 
first  European  who  ever  saw  the  buffalo,  the  wild  cattle  of  the 
plains. 

.  At  long  intervals  of  time,  other  exploring  parties  penetra 
ted  these  unknown  recesses,  our  own  government  having  had 
under  its  patronage,  the  expeditions  of  Whipple,  Beale,  Ives, 
and  vlately  Wheeler,  all  officers  of  the  army  or  navy,  whose 
published  reports  are  filled  with  complete  and  interesting  de 
scriptions  of  the  country.  But  to  the  people  generally  of  the 
United  States  the  Moquis  are  less  known  than  any  other  tribe 
of  Indians  within  our  borders,  the  few  Mormons  visiting  them 
from  Utah,  or  occasional  mining  parties  passing  their  towns 
from  the  Rio  Grande,  not  being  sufficiently  numerous  to 
bridge  the  chasm  of  isolation  intervening  between  them  and 
ourselves. 

Perched  like  the  castles  of  German  robber-barons,  upon  the 
apices  of  vertical  rocky  bluffs,  the  Moqui  towns  overlook  for 
miles  in  every  direction  the  surrounding  country,  rendering 
it  an  impossibility  for  any  party  whether  with  hostile  or 
iriendly  intent  to  invade  the  environs  of  their  settlements 
without  immediate  discovery.  These  bluffs  or  i;mesas"  are 
impregnable  to  direct  assault,  and  the  subjugation  of  these 
people  by  hostile  invasions  from  the  neighboring  tribes,  sup 
posing  such  ever  to  be  made,  would  be  reduced  to  a  precari 
ous  dependence  upon  a  closely  drawn  siege,  provided  against 
in  the  ample  supplies  laid  by  each  harvest,  in  their  villages. 

Seven  communities,  severed  from  each  other  and  the  out 
side  world,  acknowledge  the  name  of  Moquis,  but  the  two 
languages  spoken  are  distinct  and  demand  the  services  of  in 
terpreters  when  communication  is  being  held  among  the  dif 
ferent  villages.  A  third  dialect  degenerating  or  advancing 
into  a  third  language,  shows  how  slender  a  thread  of  inter 
course  holds  this  nation  together,  and  adds  much  to  the  diffi 
culty  of  corresponding  with  them. 

Tegua,  Hualpi  arid    Moqui ,    occupy  the   eastermost 


'•mesa  ;"  Oraybe  the  one  farthest  to  the  \vest,  while  Su-powa- 
lory,  8u-ino-po\\'3r.  and  Mu-shang-nevy  are  built  upon  a  high 
bluff  about  midway  oetween  the  others  and  a  little  south  of 
the  line  connecting  them  Oraybe  makes  pretensions  to  being 
the  principal  to\vn  ;  its  general  dilapidation  and  thriftless  ap 
pearance  poorly  support  these  claims  which  may  with  more 
justice  be  conceded  to Tegua,  Hualpi  and  Moqui,  a  descrip 
tion  of  which  will  apply  equally  well  to  all  the  others.  These 
three  towns  nearly  cover  the  flat  summit  of  a  ;  mesa"  of  sand 
stone,  quite  500  feet  in  vertical  height  and  varying  in  width 
from  200  yards  to  ten  feet.  Approach  is  made  by  climbing  a 
graded  way,  built  up  of  large  blocks  of  stone,  running  from 
summittoba.se.  At  every  turn,  assailants  would  meet  with 
destruction  either  by  rocks  thrown  from  above  or  arrows 
thrown  by  foemen  concealed  in  inaccessible  positions.  The 
principal  passage-way  here  described  is  used  generally  as  an 
easy  road  for  their  animals  loaded  with  fuel  or  the  produce  of 
the  field.  Numerous  trails  beaten  into  the  vertical  face  of  the 
precipice  having  stone  steps  in  the  more  difficult  places,  are 
used  in  moving  quickly  from  the  villages  to  the  springs  and 
reservoirs  below.  These  springs  deserve  more  than  a  passing 
notice.  Excavated  from  %25  to  30  feet  deep,  the  Moquis  have 
walled  them  in  with  ma>onry  and  skillfully  constructed 
ramps  leading  b}'  a  gentle  slope  to  the  edge  of  the  water.  In 
each  village  one  spring  is  reserved  for  their  great  herds  of 
black  sheep  and  goats  as  well  as  for  their  '-burros,"  while  the.  ., 
other  supplies  drinking  water  to  the  households.  DflfjCTOIt  J-< 

The  material  used  in  erecting  their  dwellings  and  other  edi 
fices  is  the  friable  sandstone  of  their  eyrie  home  ;  walls,  in 
general,  avcr.-ige  no!,  more  than  seven  feet  in  each  story,  the 
upper  stories  receding  from  the  lower  until  the  fourth  and 
last  is  reach. d  and  found  to  include  not  more  than  two  or 
three  rooms.  Flooring  is  made  of  cottonwood  rafters,  cov 
ered  with  reeds  laid  on  evenly  and  plastered  two  or  three 
inches  deep  with  cement,  which  likewise  coats  the  walls.  In 
some  houses  a  wash,  made  from  the  yellow  ochreous  earth 
abundant  in  the  vicinity  gives  a  pleasing  tone  to  the  interior. 

Once  on  top  of  the  me.sa.  the  traveller  follows  along  trails 
worn  six  and  eight  inches  into  the  sandstone  ;  boldly  pushes 
his  way  through  a  crowd  of  yelping,  vicious,  worthless  curs, 
sustains  with  composure  the  cynical  criticism  of  patriarchal 
goats  surveying  him  from  sandstone  crags  or  lofty  roofs, 
tramps  upon  a  few  lazy  chickens,  sees  scampering  before  him 
a  horde  of  dirty,  naked  children,  finds  the  streets  filled  with 
all  the  garbage  and  offal  of  a  Hottentot  village,  inhales  all  the 


[4] 

smells  of  Cologne  and  a  thousand  others  Coleridge  never  knew 
and  finally  stands  at  the  foot  of  a  ladder  leading  to  the  second 
floor  of  one  of  the  buildings. 

The  ground  floor  is  the  kennel  inhabited  by  the  dogs  and 
chickens  of  the  family,  and  sometimes,  though  not  frequently, 
used  as  a  store-room  for  corn,  melons  and  peaches,  the  staple 
products  of  the  soil. 

The  Moquis  receive  visitors  customarily  with  urbanity  and 
are  not  slow  to  offer  a  collation  to  any  who  may  enter  their 
abodes.  If  the  traveller  will  now  employ  his  eyes  judiciously, 
much  may  be  observed  that  is  very  strange  and  deserving.  of 
recollection.  First,  the  women  who  had  betaken  themselves 
for  refuge  to  the  housetops,  regaining  confidence,  cautiously 
approach  the  apartment  and  resume  the  routine  of  domestic 
labor. 

Far  superior  to  any  other  nation  in  Arizona  are  the  Moquis 
in  matters  of  dress  The  outer  garment  of  the  women  con 
sists  of  a  dark  woollen  blanket  or  gown,  fastened  by  a  herring 
bone  stitch  of  yellow  embroidery  at  the  right  shoulder  and 
extending  down  half-way  between  the  knees  and  ankles  ; 
both  arms,  neck  and  the  upper  half  of  the  left  breast  are  ex 
posed ;  a  girdle  of  red  worsted  confines  the  waist,  while  a  line 
of  yellow  decoration  adorns  the  dress  about  six  inches  below 
the  neck  and  another  the  same  distance  above  the  lower  edge. 
The  hair  of  the  young  maidens  is  arranged  in  three  puffs,  one 
at  each  side  and  one  at  the  top  of  the  head,  giving  a  pro 
nounced  Mongolian  cast  to  the  features.  When  in  grand  cos 
tume,  the  Moqui  belle  dons  a  necklace  of  blue  and  white 
beads  and  carefully  powders  her  face  with  fine  corn  meal. 
The  matrons  appear  much  more  sedate  than  the  unmarried 
women  and  wear  their  hair  in  two  bands,  one  lapping  over 
each  ear.  The  men  clothe  themselves  in  trousers  and  shirts 
of  cotton,  moccasins  of  deer  skin  and  blankets  of  home  manu 
facture,  in  which  they  envelop  the  person  from  head  to  foot. 
Great  care  is  taken  by  both  sexes  in  keeping  the  head  clean 
and  their  long  tresses  glossy  arid  straight.  Part  of  the  equip 
ment  of  every  well  regulated  Moqui  family  is  a  bundle  of  hair 
brushes  of  evenly  cut  hay  with  which  they  make  their  daily 
toilet. 

The  children,  until  well  advanced  in  years,  roam  about  in 
the  Garden  of  Paradise  costume,  entirely  neglected  by  their 
parents  and  consequently  are  filthy  and  repulsive. 

While  the  squaws  prepare  the  daily  meal  or  the  refresh 
ment  for  the  visitors,  the  latter  may  curiously  scrutinize  culi 
nary  matters  and  the  arrangements  of  the  edifice.  In  one 


corner  of  each  room  is  a  small  hearth  burning  a  few  pieces  of 
cedar  wood,  brought  on  the  backs  of  donkeys  for  a  distance  of 
ten  or  fifteen  miles.  Over  the  handful  of  live  coals  is  fixed  a 
sheet  of  tin.  iron,  or  stone,  now  hot  enough  to  serve  the  pur 
pose  of  bread  baking.  Kneeling  down  before  the  hearth,  the 
woman  stirs  up  a  thin  gruel,  already  prepared  in  an  earthen 
ware  bowl ;  dipping  her  hand  in  tne  gruel  she  rapidly  sm-eads 
the  mixture  over  the  heated  plate  of  iron,  and  the  bread  al 
most  as  rapidly  bakes.  In  appearance  it  might  readily  be 
mistaken  for  tissue  paper,  like  it,  being  rolled  up  in  cylindri 
cal  bundles  and  laid  aside  for  future  uso.  This  is  the  favorite 
broad  of  the  Moquis  ;  but  another  kind  is  made  from  their 
purple  corn  meal,  which  when  presented  for  use  looks  like  a 
blue  banana.  Moth  varieties  are  sweet,  palatable  ami  nutri 
tious. 

The  dietary  of  this  people  is  more  comprehensive  than,  that 
of  any  other  aboriginal  nation  now  living  within  the  borders 
of  our  country.  In  every  building  may  be  seen  rooms  used 
as  pantries  and  provision  closets,  where  arc  kept  quantities  of 
red.  yellow  and  blue  corn,  sometimes  hanging  on  strings, 
sometimes  piled  up  like  cord  wood.  Water  melons,  musk 
melons,  cantaloupes,  and  peaches  of  large  si/e  and  delicious 
flavor-  all  these  either  dried  or  fresh  or  both  ;  onions,  toma 
toes,  chili,  beets,  beans,  acorns,  sunflower  seeds,  and  -'mescal" 
this  last  obtained  by  trading  with  the  Apaches.  <  >f  the  above, 
corn  and  melons  are  planted  in  extensive  fields  ;  hundreds 
and  thousands  of  acres  of  cultivated  land  can  bo  seen  at  one 
time.  The  peach  orchards  of  all  the  towns  are  extensive,  but 
those  of  Oraybe  equal  all  the  others  united  and  produce  a  lar 
ger  and  more  grateful  fruit.  The  Spanish  priests  brought  the 
first  seeds  with  them.  The  tomato,  onion,  and  beet  are  evi 
dently  of  later  introduction,  and  probably  have  been  obtained 
from  Americans.  Sunflowers  attain  an  enormous  size,  the 
disks  of  not  a  few  being  more  than  a  foot  in  diameter;  the 
seeds  are  esteemed  a  luxury.  ''Mescal"  is  obtained  by  roast 
ing  the  heart  and  leaves  of  the  American  aloe,  a  plant  .that 
does  not  grow  in  the  Moqui  country,  but  which  furnishes  the 
principal  food  of  the  Apaches.  Dried  mutton,  venison,  and 
goats  flesh,  with  an  occasional  rabbit  or  hare,  comprise  the 
list  of  meats,  while  wild  honey  is  sometimes  seen  as  a  rare 
delicacy,  preserved  ii<  earthen  jars. 

Meals  are  served  on  the  cement  floor,  the  men  eating  first, 
women  and  children  waiting  deferentially  until  their  lords 
and  masters  are  gorged  and  then  falling  to  upon  the  remnants. 
Beside  each  guest  is  placed  a  roll  of  tissue  bread  and  in  the 


center  one  or  two  crockery  bowls  containing  a  fragrant  "olla 
podrida"  of  chopped  mutton,  beans,  tomatoes,  chili  and  corn. 
Knives  and  forks  are  unknown,  so  dirty  paws  dart  quickly 
from  dish  to  mouth,  and  fro  in  mouth  to  dish  until  the  last 
fragment  of  meat  has  been  consumed  or  satiety  compels  a  re 
spite.  Melons  and  peaches  form  the  after  course. 

Haying  satisfied  the  inner  man,  there  is  now  an  opportunity 
for  looking  into  the  other  apartments.  In  some,  buckskin 
ropes  stretched  from  wall  to  wall,  sustain  heavy  blankets  wo 
ven  in  alternate  bands  of  black,  white  and  blue,  the  dark  col 
ors  predominating  less  generally  than  the  white.  Rude  wea 
ving  machines  may  be  witnessed  in  operation  any  time.  On 
the  floor  are  rugs  or  mats  about  seven  feet  long  and  as  many 
wide,  woven  of  wool,  filled  in  in  some  way  with  the  fur  of 
cayotes.  wolves,  rabbits  and  hares.  These  cover  in  cold 
weather  the  entrances  and  windows,  as  the  Moquis  have  no 
doors  ;  in  Summer,  these  rugs  serve  as  cushions  and  mattress 
es.  Chimneys  are  of  crockery,  and  so  skillful  is  their  con 
struction,  that  it  is  doubtful  if  a  smoking  one  can  be  found  in 
"the  seven  cities."  Crockery  is  indeed  the  great  manufacture 
of  the  Moquis  whose  dishes  are  not  only  neat  and  durable, 
but  ornamented  with  identically  the  same  tracings  as  are  de 
tected  upon  the  broken  fragments  of  earthenware  lying  in 
heaps  in  the  "Aztec  ruins"  of  Arizona. 

As  might  be  inferred  from  the  above  brief  list  of  comforts 
possessed  by  the  Moquis,  they  are  a  thrifty,  frugal  and  Indus 
trious  people — one  of  the  few  native  tribes  which  do  not  im 
pose  all  the  drudgery  of  domestic  and  out-door  labor  opon  the 
women.  With  them  the  men  assume  the  care  of  the  fields  and 
nocks,  the  women  employing  their  time  in  cai'ing  for  their 
homes,  weaving  blankets,  making  pottery,  and,  in  the  proper 
season,  drying  peaches.  Squads  of  five  and  six  women,  young 
and  old,  assemble  in  the  orchards,  gather  the  delicious  fruit 
and  spread  it  out  to  dry  in  the  sun  ;  thousands  of  pounds  may 
be  collected  within  a  radius  of  as  many  yards. 

Every  year  in  the  Summer  months,  detachments  of  Moquis 
appear  in  Prescott,  Arizona,  the  Mormon  settlements  of  lower 
Utah,  and  in  Santa  Fe,  New  Mexico,  to  trade  for  and  buy  nec 
essaries  or  any  clothing  they  may  fancy.  Among  frontiers 
men,  the  impression  prevails  that  to  them  the  wild  Apache 
and  Navajo  have  resorted,  when  at  war  with  the  whites,  for 
powder,  shot,  and  rifles.  For  this  belief  good  grounds  exist — 
the  Moqui  representing  the  Chatham-street  trader  of  the  na 
tive  American  tribes,  and  disposed  to  sell  all  that  is  most 
deart  o  him  to  secure  good  bargains.  The  wilder  and  nobler 


Apache  and  Na\ajo  disdain  the  effeminate  Moqui  over  whom 
thoir  superiority  must  be  conceded  in  every  manly  and  bar 
baric  virtue. 

Between  Apaches  and  Mcquis  the  contrast  is  striking;  the 
former  inured  to  the  privations  of  nomadic  life  and  darkened 
by  constant  exposure  to  the  sun  ;  the  latter  enjoying  all  com 
forts  attainable  by  a  people  ignorant  of  the  working  of  metals 
but  enervated  by  an  almost  monastic  seclusion  and  blanched 
by  the  protection  of  cool  and  lofty  houses.  The  comparative 
fairness  of  the  Moqui  complexion  has  given  rise  to  frequent 
remark,  undiminished  by  encountering  among  them  individu 
als  of  pure  white  skins,  auburn  hair  and  ruddy  cheeks,  corres 
ponding  to  the  Albinos  of  Equatorial  Africa.  They  say  that 
long  ago  these  Albinos  were  numerous,  but  are  at  present 
much  reduced,  probably  not  over  fifty  living  in  the  entire  na 
tion.  The  other  Moquis  do  not  intermarry  with  them  and  the 
existence  of  a  mutual  contempt  may  be  detected. 

Little  is  known  of  the  mode  of  government  or  religion  pre 
vailing  in  their  villages;  the  head  captains  or  caciques,  called 
in  their  language  ';mung-wee"  transact  all  business,  send 
out  the  herds  to  pasture  at  day  dawn,  and  recall  them  to  the 
corrals  before  sun  set ;  designate  the  two  sentinels  who  on 
each  '-mesa"  keep  watch  by  night  and  to  all  appearances  have 
general  supervision  of  the  communities. 

A  faint  flush  of  religion  or  superstition  tinges  their  daily  life, 
ushered  in  each  morning  by  the  chanting  of  choruses  and 
clanging  of  bells  to  drive  bad  spirits  away  from  their  harvests 
and  orchards. 

Shrines,  containing  votive  offerings  of  petrified  wood,  twigs* 
and  other  rubbish  have  been  noticed  .  but  thus  far  no  circum 
stantial  account  of  their  festivals,  if  any,  or  the  ceremonial 
observed  during  their  continuance,  has  been  compiled.  Like 
all  other  Indian  nations,  their  traditions,  historical  and  re 
ligious,  are  probabiy  vague,  incoherent  and  unsatisfactory. 
Much  might  be  gleaned  by  a  careful  and  intelligent  study  of 
the  tracings  upon  the  huge  blocks  of  soft,  friable  sandstone 
lying  about  their  villages  ;  upon  these  are  carved,  not  seldom 
of  an  enormous  size,  representations  of  elk,  deer,  horses, 
"burros,"  chickens,  crows,  men  and  women  ;  J,he  artists  who 
aspired  to  the  delineation  of  the  human  form  divine  nor  being 
restrained  by  any  considerations  of  delicacy  in  the  accomplish 
ment  of  their  tasks.  Many  of  these  tracings  are  scarcely 
discernible  and  bear  marks  of  a  great  antiquity. 

To  the  archaBologist  and  ethnographer  this   peculiar  people 


[8] 

of  the  remote  Southwest,  must,  for  a  long  time  to  come,  furn 
ish  matter  for  reflection  and  discussion.  Their  habitations, 
manners  and  customs  are  to-day  practically  what  they  were 
when  Cortez  was  "Marquis  ot  Oaxaca,"  350  years  ago  ;  and, 
if  from  their  condition  we  may  assume,  as  we  have  a  right  to 
do,  a  similarity  in  all  respects  between  them  and  the  other 
nations  of  Mexico  encountered  by  the  first  Spanish  -adventur 
ers,  we  must  frame  new  ideas  of  the  Aztecs  whose  advanced 
civilization  formed  the  theme  of  soldiery  report  and  monkish 
story ;  the  gorgeous  palaces  of  Monte/uina  fade  away  and 
leave  us  villages  of  j-qualid  stone  tenements  ;  instead  of  a 
homogeneous  and  strongly  cemented  autonomy,  we  see  a  na 
tion  composed  of  many  peoples,  distrustful  each  of  the  other, 
indifferent  to  the  maintenance  of  j,eace  at  home  and  impotent 
to  resist  aggressions  from  abroad.  Historial  inconoclasts  have 
ere  this  alluded  to  Monte/uma  as  a  petty  Captain,  his  Capital 
as  a  paltry  and  disorderly  jumble  of  mud  huts.  The  eloquence 
of  Prescott  has  gilded  the  achievements  of  Cortez  with  the 
glamour  of  romance  ;  but  the  coming  generation  may  applaud 
the  Spanish  commander  more  for  what  he  tried  to  do  than  for 
what  he  really  won. 


THE  MOOUIS. 


On  the  fourth  page  of  the  ALT  A  to-day  may  be  found  a  very 
interesting  article  upon  the  Moquis  of  Arizona;  that  curious 
people  so  different  from  every  ether  tribe  of  natives  of  the 
country.  It  is  next  to  impossible  to  believe  they  had  the 
same  origin  as  the  Apache  and  other  Indian  tribes.  If  they 
are  relics  of  the  old  Aztec  races,  they  must  have  very  essen 
tially  degenerated,  or  the  Spanish  accounts  of  the  Aztec  na 
tions,  whom  they,  under  Cortez,  overcome,  were  highly  col 
ored.  Surely  the  people  who  constructed  such  cities  as  Palen- 
que  must  have  been  at  some  time  in  the  far  past  a  race  vastly 
advanced  beyond  the  present  state  of  semi-civilization  dis- 
plaj^ed  by  the  Moquis  of  the  present  time.  But  who  knows 
what  the  effects  of  their  surroundings,  their  neighbors,  the 
Apaches  and  other  warlike  and  brutal  tribes,  may  have  been. 
The  article  referred  to  is  a  very  interesting  account  of  this 
strange  people,  and  was  written  from  personal  observation 
and  may  be  implicitly  relied  upon. 


